New MLIS Program in California (LOL)
Forbes Job RatingsUSC has created a NEW Master’s Degree Program in Library Science. At a time hundreds of librarians cannot find work, especially in California, it seems cruel to ADD another MLS Degree program. Last July, Forbes Magazine rated Library Science the #1 worst master’s degree for jobs!
I have lots of excellent librarian friends that are currently VERY under-employed. They work as library assistants, techs, circ clerks, pages, or, most shamefully, as volunteers when they have a Master’s Degree. Too many of them have been squeezed out of the profession and cannot find work in the library field at all!
I met with one such friend last week. She is/was a dynamic librarian who was laid off. Fortunately, for her, she landed a cushy job. Unfortunately for us, she has no reason to return to the library field. Over lunch she added how unethical she thinks it was and is for library schools to take money without providing any sort of job support or job placement program. Hell yeah!
To quote the USC Dean, “We look forward to…help prepare librarians for leadership roles in a rapidly evolving arena — from maximizing local community engagement in the face of limited resources to addressing the need within global industry to manage digital information and improve communication.” It’s a nice thought. But…
I’ve been through a MLIS program. Librarian-school only reinforced an insular, myopic, nerdy, insider-approach to information, knowledge, and learning. This is exactly the reason librarianship as a profession is often perceived as unnecessary and obsolete.
Librarians and Library Schools must widen their focus and approach. That means to reach out to other industries, to learn THEIR languages and to simplify our own “library-speak” so that outsiders can understand it. I don’t think USC’s MLIS program is going to be different than any others. And flooding the market with a fresh batch of Librarian-Nerds is not going to bring back jobs.
